Identification of causal genes for dyslexia on the basis of genome-wide association studies

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Bertram Müller-Myhsok; Professor Dr. Markus M. Nöthen; Professor Dr. Gerd Schulte-Körne
• Subject Area: Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: from 2012 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 226655034

Dyslexia has a prevalence of 5%, and is among the most common of all developmental disorders in childhood and adolescence. The proportion of inherited factors is estimated to be up to 70%, depending on the particular phenotype dimension in question. Our project will make an important contribution to the identification of the causal genes through the use of a large sample of extensively characterized children with dyslexia. The identification of causal genes will contribute decisively to explaining the etiology of this common developmental disorder and will enable the performance of genotype-phenotype and genotype-environment analyses within the context of interdisciplinary collaborations.The identification of disposition genes will be achieved through: (i) a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in one of the largest and most informative dyslexia samples worldwide (1,362 patients, 3,732 controls); and (ii) comparison of the obtained findings in independent datasets from Iceland and the USA. The identified dyslexia genes will then be subjected to molecular genetic analyses, which will serve to characterize the associated loci and to identify the causal risk variants.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Johannes Schumacher